Chocolate is seriously big business. 2,650,342 tonnes of cocoa were shipped around the world in 2009/10, according to the latest data from the International Cocoa Organisation.

We wanted to visualise that trade - which is where the Guardian graphics team came in, lovingly creating the map above out of melted chocolate onto greaseproof paper using paintbrushes and letting it cool. Then it was photographed, with the original, er, filed rather deliciously.

Guardian graphic artist Jenny Ridley then created the graphic above. It shows interesting things, such as the Netherlands as a global focus of the cocoa trade. According to the ICCO, this is because:

The cocoa industry in the Netherlands has traditionally been very active, with large cocoa processing plants from major international cocoa processors. A large share of the cocoa liquor, butter & powder produced from the raw beans is then exported